Sidewalk Chalk

Michael recieved a new book in the mail today from Uncle Kirk - a book of North American birds/birdsongs. He loves it. It goes with his other book of birds of the world. He has developed quite a memory and can recognize bird songs from the Egyptian goose, Tinamou, Kookaburra, Harpy eagle, and many others. Michael and Kelly went to the store today and did some reading at home. We had a nice dinner of leftover enchiladas and Michael tried some chips and salsa. He likes to say, "spicy hot!" Michael and I put toys and books away after dinner then went for a walk and mommy took a nap. We walked up the street and saw some snails along the way. The wind was a bit chilly and Michael walks on his own. We hold hands to cross the street. Lately he has seen the moon out in the evening but it wasn't out tonight. The orange kitty with the skin graft on its paw was also absent. When we came home we spent some time drawing on the walkway with sidewalk chalk. Michael was in heaven and was tearing around and drawing on everything including the grass, door and benches. It was great. He really enjoyed himself. It was such a pleasure to watch him smiling and enjoying himself. He had a look of sheer joy on his face. In that moment I thanked God for being a parent and smiled. It was a wonderful moment. Then we went over the our neighbor, Angie's yard, and picked a baby lemon which Michael ended up taking into the bathtub. We finshed up the night with a bottle of milk and some goodnight stories. The latest favorites are, "Napping House", "Lunch", The Going to Bed Book", "So Sleepy Story", and "And If the Moon Could Talk. He is really getting into reading and enjoys his books. I can tell he is concentrating and seems to look at the illustrations more than he used to. We brushed teeth then he laid down for bed - with his lemons, of course.